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Its probably dead if there was no new growth last summer.

Yes, we do Michael. i just love the plant, so soft and touchable.

I was delighted to find some self-sown Salvia farinacea under the mother plants this spring. The original plants are perennial here, so 'babies' are a bonus

My Pachira just keeps growing and growing and has quite a trunk now ...

Only deep enough so that it looks like I've dug it @ViewAhead , I will confess to digging a hole to plant something, now and again but I normally leave it up to the self seeders. They seem to know what they're doing - apart from teasels who tend to settle in somewhere really stupid.

As well as what @Pete8 listed, make sure your secateurs (or knife) are good and sharp to take the cutting and snip off lower leaves cleanly. You don't want to bruise/crush the stem. Lots of things will root in a jar of water, but you still need pots and compost to plant them up as soon as they...

I agree @JennyJB a very important point. And frankly a good reason for them to try to look after them a bit so more people can buy them.

It's alive and thriving, but no longer a topiary ball!If original box top hadn't died due to the extreme December 2022 temps, box tree moth would have got it summer of 2023 anyway, they have been prolific and devastating in my area (North Bucks).

Brilliant! Thank you for the id. It is a really pretty mauve colour and I like the leaves too. I must investigate the Rugosa group.

Small amounts of tufa on eBay.

I agree with you about telescopic tools @hailbopp, totally useless! If you prefer manual shearing rather than using a hedge trimmer it might be worth investing in Niwaki long handled shears. I have several of their shearing and pruning tools, but not the long handled shears. They are top quality.

With the new pictures I don't really have an id. It's hawthorn like but not a native wild type but does look like images I googled of swedish whitebeam. It looks a nice tree

Given the billions wasted on PPE, the real injustice is clawing the money back from these overpayments just because it is easy to organise.I agree cliff-edge cut-offs are really counterproductive. Carers save society huge amounts of money and yet are begrudged very modest financial assistance.